Providing free, confidential and impartial advice for Paddock Wood and the surrounding areas

Paddock Wood Community Advice Centre began operating on 2 April 2012. PWCAC is a registered company with charity status. It is a member of Advice UK, the UK’s largest support network for free, independent advice centres and is registered with the Money Advice Trust and National Homelessness Advice Centre for additional support. The Trustees and volunteers of PWCAC strongly believe that the community needs to work together to provide a comprehensive advice service for those who live and work in Paddock Wood and surrounding areas. You can find us in the heart of Paddock Wood where we are available to help over 10,000 people living either in Paddock Wood or in neighbouring villages.

We have links with Compaid, Hospice in the Weald and Highland House and we attend coffee mornings at local sheltered housing developments on an ad-hoc basis to give advice. We arrange home visits where necessary as well as having the use of ground floor interviewing rooms at our premises.

We offer a full, free, confidential and impartial advice service, including free debt advice. All our advisers can deal with any problem no matter how small. We have specialist benefit and debt advisers who can help you manage your finances when things become overwhelming. Our advisers have appealed successfully at benefit tribunals against the Department of Work and Pensions' decisions on many occasions. We support any individual who has a benefit need from the initial interview through to challenging awards and often overturning government decisions.

Guidance on filling in forms, making telephone calls and online applications is given. We can advise you of your legal rights. Our advisers are trained to provide support on a range of issues; please do not hesitate to ask. Many problems do not go away, the sooner you ask, the sooner we can help. We aim to ensure our clients leave our offices feeling empowered and aware of their options.

On 2 October 2017, the Trustees appointed Suzi Rich as manager, thus freeing Fiona to revert to advising.